As is known, various types of techniques have been employed by readers of magazines, technical papers and other types of documents for marking off pages of interest. For example, one technique is to simply turn down the upper corner of a page of a multi-page document in order to return to that page after reading the document. Other techniques have employed the placing of paper clips on the edge of a document. Still others have employed Post-it(copyright) type tabs which project from the edge of a page to xe2x80x9cflagxe2x80x9d the page of interest. All of these techniques have some advantages and disadvantages.
For example, the least expensive technique tends to be one in which the upper corner of the page is simply folded over. However, since the folded over edge is not readily apparent when the document is closed, the xe2x80x9cflaggingxe2x80x9d of the page may not be readily apparent to a user. The use of paper clips or Post-it(copyright) type tabs require a suitable supply of such materials from other sources.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a tab marking system which is incorporated with the document to be read.
It is another object of the invention to be able to flag the pages of a document which are to be re-read in a simple manner.
It is another object of the invention to provide a ready supply of tab markers for the reader of a multi-page document.
Briefly, the invention is directed to the combination of a document having a plurality of pages and a tab marking system incorporated with the document for marking selected pages of the document. This tab marking system includes a first ply having a plurality of removable tabs, a second ply disposed under the first ply to cover over at least a portion of the tabs and a self-adhesive repositionable glue on each tab adjacent one end and facing the second ply for removably affixing a respective tab to a selected page of the document after removal of the tab from the first ply.
In one embodiment where the document is in the form of magazine or catalog having a cover sheet and a plurality of pages, the tab marking system may be incorporated as an insert sheet in the magazine, for example, between the cover and one of the pages. In this embodiment, as a reader of the magazine or catalog reads from page to page, a tab may be removed from the insert sheet and affixed to a page of interest in order to flag the page for later review. Several pages may be tabbed in the same manner by removing additional tabs from the insert sheet.
In another embodiment, the tab marking system may be incorporated in a wrapper about a multi-page document. In this embodiment, the wrapper may be of a sleeve type which can be readily removed from the document to permit reading of the pages of the document. As a page becomes of interest, a tab may be removed from the wrapper and applied to the edge of the page to flag the page for subsequent reading.
Typically, the self-adhesive glue which is used on the tabs is of a releasable nature so as to be peeled off from the tab marking system and applied to a page of a document in an adhesive manner. For example, one such glue is one sold under the trade name Craigstik 3991PLV and is sold as a repositionable adhesive with a chemical name of xe2x80x9cwater based adhesivexe2x80x9d in a chemical family of xe2x80x9csynthetic polymer dispersionxe2x80x9d. This glue is obtainable from the manufacturer, Craig Adhesives and Coatings Co., 80 Wheeler Point Road, Newark, N.J.
In order to avoid any adhesion of the self adhesive glue to the underlying ply, the second ply is provided with a barrier coating in facing relation to the glue. Any suitable type of barrier coating may be used in this regard. For example, a silicone-based barrier coating may be used although it has been found that some silicone based barrier coatings are not useable. The specific barrier or release coating which has been found to be advantageous is sold by Dow Corning Corporation under the designation SYL-OFF (R) 7676 release coating.
The tab marking system may also be used apart from the document. That is to say, the tab marking system may be handled as a unit from which tabs may be used for various purposes. For example, where the tabs are of a relatively small size, the tabs may be removed and used to mark the pages of a multi-page document as above. In other cases, the tabs may be of a larger size so as to allow writing thereon. As such, a tab may be removed and used in a similar manner to a conventional Post-It(copyright) type tab. Still further, the tabs may be personalized with variable data.
The tab marking system may be constructed in various formats. Basically, the tab marking system is comprised of a first ply of paper having a plurality of parallel lines of weakening to define a plurality of discrete tabs therebetween. In addition, a first line of weakening is disposed perpendicular to and common to the parallel lines of weakening to define a terminal end of each tab while a second line of weakening or gap is provided perpendicular to and common to the parallel lines of weakening to define a second terminal end of each tab. In either case, one end of the tab is provided with the self-adhesive glue while the other end of the tab is positioned so as to be manually grasped by the fingers of a user and peeled back from the overlying second ply of paper so that upon removal from the first ply, a discrete tab is available be affixed to a page of a document or any other substrate.